Hawkeye Community College

Hawkeye Community College

RedTails Rising

Intercollegiate Sports are Taking Off at Hawkeye Community College

Since intercollegiate sports began at Hawkeye Community College in fall 2015, student-athletes have come from across the globe to compete. During 2016-2017, more than 110 student-athletes competed in men’s and women’s soccer and sports shooting, while others competed in club sports like golf and dance.

Head coach Micah Ruroden

The Hawkeye RedTails are gearing up to launch their next intercollegiate sports, track and field and cross country, in fall 2017. Recruitment is well underway, with more than a dozen athletes already on board for the inaugural seasons.

Leading the recruitment efforts are coaches Micah Ruroden and Tyler Mulder, who bring extensive experience as coaches and athletes to the RedTails leadership.

Head coach Ruroden comes to Hawkeye from Hudson High School, where he led the boys’ track program since 2014. While at Hudson, he coached 22 state qualifiers, with seven top-eight finishes, including a 400 hurdles championship. He was previously an assistant coach at Holmes Junior High in Cedar Falls and a volunteer coach for the Cedar Falls Junior Tiger Basketball program.

Assistant coach Tyler Mulder

As a college athlete, Ruroden was part of the inaugural cross country and track teams at Iowa Central Community College, where he was an NJCAA championship qualifier in cross country, indoor 4×800 and 60m hurdles, and outdoor 110m and 400m hurdles. He ran for the University of Northern Iowa from 2006-2009 and was a hurdles specialist for 110m and 400m.

“We’re excited to start this program from the ground up with some of Iowa’s best runners, jumpers, and throwers,” Ruroden said. “Being able to build a foundation with some of Iowa’s own is very important to us from the start.”

Assistant coach Tyler Mulder is also a UNI graduate, where he was an eight-time NCAA All-American and still holds school records for the 800m, 1000m, 4×4 relay, sprint medley relay, and distance medley relay. He was an 11-time Missouri Valley Conference champion and the 2008 NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Champion in the 800m.

After college, Mulder ran professionally with Nike Oregon Track Club Elite in Eugene, Oregon. His primary event was the 800m, and he placed fourth in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Trials qualifiers. He was four-time consecutive USA Track and Field Championships finalist from 2009-2013 and placed fourth in the 2011 Pan American Games.

“I’m extremely excited and proud that I’m able to help build the program for Hawkeye,” Mulder said. “We want to build the foundation of our program with some of Iowa’s best talent.”

Jason Staker

Highlights from the 2016-2017 season

Sports Shooting Places Third at Nationals

The Hawkeye RedTails Sports Shooting Team placed third in their division at the Scholastic Clay Target Program College National Tournament held October 28-30, 2016 in Ohio. The RedTails placed third among 13 schools in Division III and placed eighth overall among the 23 schools competing. The five Hawkeye RedTails whose final scores helped the team grab a third place trophy were (L to R) Jordan Lentz, Marcus Draves, Ross Wolken, Austin Boldt, and Nathan Wilson.

Dance Team Earns Top Scores at State

The Hawkeye RedTails Dance Team earned Division I ratings for their jazz and pom routines at the Iowa State Dance/Drill Team Championships held in Des Moines on December 2, 2016. The 2016-2017 dance team consists of (front L to R): Jurane Lizer, Alexandra Hartmann, Rebecca Coonover. Back: Ashley DeMeyer, Jocelyn Kramer, Talon Plum, Jenna Kelchen.

Tryouts for the 2017-2018 season will be Saturday, April 22, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. in the Health Education and Services Center on Hawkeye’s Main Campus, 1501 East Orange Road, Waterloo.

Eight members of the Hawkeye RedTails men’s and women’s soccer teams have earned All-Conference honors from the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference.

Allison Kietel

Hawkeye’s Allison Keitel is the first player in program history to be named first team All-Conference for women’s soccer. A defender from DeWitt, Keitel was a team leader during the inaugural year of the Hawkeye RedTails women’s soccer program. Starting all 14 games this year, Keitel also scored five goals, the best mark on the team.

Defender Nikola Petrovic is the first player from the men’s team to earn first team all-conference honors. A native of Belgrade, Serbia, Petrovic started 18 games, scored four goals, and was a key part of the Hawkeye RedTails defense.